All worksheets / Rowing
Edition 2026Active Merit Badge
Rowing
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Rowing is a rigorous watercraft badge focusing on fixed-seat rowboats with oars and rowlocks. You must pass the BSA swimmer test before hitting the water. Requirement 9 is the on-water practical: demonstrating efficient strokes, docking, feathering oars, backing water, and executing a swamped-boat drill and swimmer rescue.
Key Requirements Covered:
- Rowing Safety & Life Jacket Protocols
- Rowboat Anatomy, Oars & Oarlocks
- Stroke Mechanics: Catch, Drive & Feathering
- Maneuvering, Docking & Swamped Boat Recovery
6Printable Pages
9Requirements
2026Reqs Revised
What is on the worksheet: Rowing Requirements
Every requirement for the Rowing merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
1Hazards, First Aid, and Safety Afloat
Do the following:
- a Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may encounter while participating in rowing activities, including weather- and water-related hazards, and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
- b Review prevention, symptoms, and first-aid treatment for the following injuries or illnesses that can occur while rowing: blisters, hypothermia, heat-related illnesses, dehydration, sunburn, sprains, and strains.
- c Review the Scouting America Safety Afloat policy. Explain to your counselor how this applies to rowing activities.
2Swimmer Test
Before completing requirements 4, 5, 6, and 7, successfully complete the Scouting America swimmer test. Note: See the Swimming merit badge pamphlet for details about the Scouting America swimmer test.
3Life Jackets
Review the characteristics of life jackets most appropriate for rowing and why one must always be worn while rowing. Then demonstrate how to select and fit a life jacket.
4Option Selection
Do ONE of the following:
- a Alone or with a passenger, do the following in either a fixed-seat or sliding-seat rowboat:
- b Participate as a rowing team member in a competitive rowing meet. The team may be sponsored by a school, club, or Scout unit. The meet must include competition between two or more teams with different sponsors. Complete at least 10 hours of team practice prior to the meet.
5Option Selection
Do ONE of the following:
- a In a fixed-seat rowboat, come alongside a pier and help a passenger into the boat. Pull away from the pier, change positions with your passenger, and demonstrate sculling over the stern or side. Resume your rowing position, return alongside the pier, and help your passenger out of the boat.
- b In a sliding-seat rowboat, come alongside a pier and, with your buddy assisting you, get out onto the pier. Help your buddy into the boat. Reverse roles with your buddy and repeat the procedure.
6Swamped Boat Drill
Participate in a swamped boat drill including righting and stabilizing the craft, reboarding in deep water, and making headway. Tell why you should stay with a swamped boat.
7Rescue a Swimmer by Rowboat
Alone in a rowboat, push off from the shore or a pier. Row 20 yards to a swimmer. While giving instructions to the swimmer, pivot the boat so that the swimmer can hold on to the stern. Tow the swimmer to shore.
8Craft, Materials, and Oarlocks
Describe the following:
- a Types of craft used in commercial, competitive, and recreational rowing
- b Four common boatbuilding materials. Give some positive and negative points of each
- c Types of oarlocks used in competitive and recreational rowing
9Rowing Technique and Boat Care
Discuss the following:
- a The advantage of feathering oars while rowing
- b Precautions regarding strong winds and heavy waves, and boat-handling procedures in rough water and windstorms
- c How to properly fit out and maintain a boat in season, and how to prepare and store a boat for winter
- d How to determine the proper length of oars
- e The differences between fixed-seat and sliding-seat rowing
- f The different meanings of the term sculling in fixed- and sliding-seat rowing
- g The health benefits from rowing for exercise
Two dates, two different things
Requirements Revision vs. Worksheet Date
Scouting America last revised the Rowing requirements in 2026. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
Verbatim Fidelity & Verification
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/rowing/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
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